Agility has changed a lot over the years and one of the great changes recently is the ability to train in the ring at trials much more than we could in the past. Dogs are really smart about context and sooner or later most of them will develop bad habits that only occur in the ring- the trial environment is just different than training no matter how careful you are about generalizing.
In the “olden days” of agility, options for working through these challenges were hard. Chili (2004-2021) had a really hard time with the teeter as a young dog. She was reliable in training, even in new locations, but at trials she would go to the tip point and stop, never jumping off but not moving either. I would beg and plead her to move until the maximum time buzzer blew and we had to leave. At that time, AKC was extremely strict about anything that looked like training in the ring. You would definitely be whistled off and potentially a trial committee hearing called, so I didn’t have the option of fixing it there. I ended up going to just 1-2 trials hosted by a different organization (DOCNA, which you may remember if you’re also an agility old-timer). When Chili stopped on the teeter I gently took her collar and provided moral support- I didn’t pull, just let her know I was there. After months of NQs (we were the only dog in Novice Standard with MACH points from jumpers), it only took 2 times of helping her in the ring like this and she started doing the teeter reliably. Chili retired as a MACH6 PACH dog, so it was worth the time, but things would have been so much easier now.
Under the new rules I would have had a lot more options to work through the teeter monster at AKC events, either through fix n go, FEO (For Exhibition Only) runs, or the many B matches that are offered at trials. I think these options all have a lot of value, but like anything else it pays to have a plan. Here are some thoughts:
A toy isn’t a reward unless your dog says it is. Toys can be brought into the ring during FEO runs and B matches. In FEO there are quite a few restrictions on the type of toy and how it’s used, you have a little more leeway in a B match run. This is great if your dog likes toys, but if they aren’t willing to work for a toy in other settings, it isn’t likely to help much here. Really, it won’t… even if you spend a ton of money on an extremely cool toy. For some dogs petting and physical play are more rewarding than a toy. At a B match you can actually leave the ring to give a food reward and then return to finish your run if time still allows, but you probably won’t have time to do this more than once.
Are you using the toy as a reward or a lure? There may be valid uses for both, but if the only way to get your dog to play agility is if they are chasing a toy, it may be that they aren’t ready to trial yet. Can you keep the toy in a pocket and pull it out as a reward at pre-planned strategic times instead?
Which brings me to, what is your plan? You do have one, right? You don’t have a lot of time on an FEO run and you’re paying kind of a lot for that time. It’s usually better to plan to train just a single obstacle or your startline, using the equipment close by for flow. If the goal is speed and enthusiasm, is there a loop around the course that you can take to let your dog really open up and run?
When you make your plan, please consider flow and safe approaches to obstacles. Judges are expected to make sure that the path to contact obstacles and spread jumps is straight- you should be doing this too, even on a training run.
What’s your favorite use of FEO runs?
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